Pleo: Off the Endangered Species List?

Pleo, the robot dinosaur toy made by Ugobe was thought to be on its
way to extinction but roschler writes with news
of a possible reprieve
for the endangered robosaur:

Jetta Company
Limited, the company that manufactured the
Pleo baby robot dinosaur for Ugobe, has bought the intellectual property
rights and other assets at the Ugobe bankruptcy sale that occurred on
May 21. Steve Ohler, the United States liaison for the company,
confirmed the news saying that the company is firmly committed to
re-launching Pleo and continuing the line including producing
accessories such as the vital battery and charger components. Jetta is
the original manufacturer and therefore the best possible company to
have acquired Ugobe's intellectual property and re-launch Pleo. Steve
remarked that all the equipment needed to produce Pleos and accessories
were all still intact and ready to go. Jetta is an established company
with a 32 year history in manufacturing based in China and Hong Kong,
and as part of their illustrious manufacturing history they have
produced parts for members of iRobot's consumer robot line.

For more info, see roschler's
blog post on the Jetta announcement. Let's hope Jetta has better
luck selling these than Ugobe did. I've noted before that the Pleo would
make a great platform for robot hackers if it were just a little less
expensive.